Students from Guelph joined those from over 30 universities, colleges, and high schools across Canada earlier this week calling for their educational institutions to divest from fossil fuels.
Divest Canada Coalition, including students from the University of Guelph which has committed to divestment, is calling on administrators to divest fully from fossil fuels by 2025.
“There are over 90 universities in Canada and yet only five have committed to fossil fuel divestment. As a country that claims to be a climate leader, we have fallen far behind and it’s time for us to catch up. Students are demanding action and by working together we just got a whole lot more powerful,” says Sophie Price, founder of the coalition and a student at Carleton University, in a news release.
Fossil fuel divestment is the removal of all investments from companies that generate revenue from the extraction, transport, or processing of oil, gas, and coal. Organizers said the open letter comes on the heels of international campaigns to divest institutions from fossil fuels, as well as the Fridays For Future movement inspired by the strikes of Greta Thunberg.
"In the face of the climate crisis, the students are demanding that their schools step up to protect their futures. The idea is that by encouraging their schools to divest, they will remove social license from the fossil fuel industry, contribute to Canada’s reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions, and help their schools make a prudent financial choice," the news release said.
“The University of Guelph is one of the most recent institutions to commit to divestment, and I am so pleased that the organizers of Fossil Free Guelph have agreed to sign this open letter and join the coalition in solidarity with other students,” says Mackenzie Harris, a student at the University of Guelph and climate justice organizer.
The open letter has been uploaded to divestcanada.ca, where signatures will be collected from organizations and individuals across the country. If administrators fail to heed the call for full divestment, students are threatening a campaign of direct action.
